<>OLD BARNS<>

A stranger came by the other day with an offer that set me to thinking.

He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out by the highway. I told him right off he was crazy.

Â He was a city type, you could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way he talked.

Â He said he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall grass and wanted to know if it was for sale.
I told him he had a funny idea of beauty. Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But then, there's been a lot of winters pass with their snow and ice and howling wind. The summer sun's beat down on that old barn till all the paint's gone, and the wood has turned silver gray. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking kind of tired. Yet, that fellow called it beautiful.

That set me to thinking. I walked out to the field and just stood there, gazing at that old barn. The stranger said he planned to use the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home he's building down the road.

He said you couldn't get paint that beautiful. Only years of standing in the weather, bearing the storms and scorching sun, only that can produce beautiful barn wood.
It came to me then. We're a lot like that, you and I. Only it's on the inside that the beauty grows with us. Sure we turn silver gray too ... and lean a bit more than we did when we were young and full of sap.
But the Good Lord knows what He's doing. And as the years pass He's busy using the hard wealth of our lives, the dry spells and the stormy seasons, to do a job of beautifying our souls that nothing else can produce.

And to think how often folks holler because they want life easy!

They took the old barn down today and hauled it away to beautify a rich man's house. And I reckon someday you and I'll be hauled off to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good Lord has for us on the Great Sky Ranch. And I suspect we'll be more beautiful then for the seasons we've been through here ... and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our Father's house.

May there be peace within you today. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

"I believe that friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.

Sun Jan 04, 2004 4:53 pm

Great story, great thoughts, thanks for sharing with us all. And most of all, AMEN!

Sun Jan 04, 2004 6:22 pm

Amen

Sun Jan 04, 2004 7:23 pm

JB:

I'll ad an Amen to that as well. As they say, sometime's ya gotta stop and smell the roses

Last edited by Rudi on Wed May 05, 2004 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Sun Jan 04, 2004 7:26 pm

Amen JB

Great story it says all there is to say.

Sun Jan 04, 2004 9:43 pm

Great analogy It sure made me stop and think .

There is also a big demand for old barn wood in the picture frame industry. We have a local individual that removes old barns from homesites, feedlots, barnyards, etc. He takes the wood to his shop and planes and cuts it to size, then re-sales it to frame shops.

Sat Jan 17, 2004 1:53 am

JB:
Add another AMEN! to the chorus.
I am goofy enough to want to rebuild some old barns along with the old machinery that "knew them when".
I applaud your ability to put into words what most of us feel. That talent is part of what makes being here so good.
We are right now taking down a hog house that I have daughters standing in line to use lumber from.
Thanks!

Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:15 pm

An Amen from me too!! I am looking into building one of those old style barns for a few head and my wifes horses. I'm collecting the rail for the hay lift right now and tring to make one of the old manure carriers on rails. I think I bit off more than I can chew.

Wed May 05, 2004 2:39 pm

Nice thoughts, well said.
Thanks
Mike

<>OLD BARNS<>

Thu Nov 04, 2004 8:03 pm

A few years ago I razed an old barn I had on my property. I sold it to a lumber broker who told me most of the materials were going to be shipped West. Architects in the West are looking for timber from Eastern species while the opposite is true here in the East. Most of my lumber went to Colorado, Washington and Oregon for use in homes being built there. I (we), have to include the family and friends who helped seperate by color and size and denail everything, spent a few weekends doing the work. Made a few thousand dollars for our efforts and bought a lot of pizza.

Thu Nov 04, 2004 10:21 pm

There are a lot of old loose hay barns falling down in Deleware county NY
Bill